I am the change: The role of psychological capital in drug-using offenders

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Emerging Scholars In Life-Course Criminology Lightning Talk

Abstract

Introduction: Little is known about the role of psychological capital in desistance in drug-using offenders. This study examined the relationship between 6 positive psychological resources, namely hope, optimism, abstinence self-efficacy, meaning in life, resilience, and perceived social support, and desistance from drug use.
Design/Methods: Surveys were administered to measure participants’ psychological capital. 65 males with a prior conviction for drug use and who did not have a subsequent conviction record (desisters) were compared with 285 males who were re-convicted for a drug use offense within 5 years (persisters). Exploratory factor analyses and logistic regressions were conducted to analyse the relationships.
Results: Key findings revealed that greater agency, a component of hope (p = .01), self-efficacy in social or positive affect situations (p = .02), presence of meaning in life (p < .001), resilience (p = .02), and perceived support from one's significant other (p = .02) were positively associated with drug desistance. Interestingly, higher levels of optimism (p < .001), self-efficacy in situations involving drug cravings and urges (p = .01), and the search for meaning in life (p = .04) were associated with drug relapse and reoffending.
Discussion: These findings suggest that several components of psychological capital have valuable utility in rehabilitative programming, at differing levels, as measurable, developable, and manageable resources. Fostering agency, abstinence self-efficacy in social/positive affect situations, meaning in life and resilience can promote drug desistance. Meanwhile, cases of unrealistic optimism, superoptimistic thinking, and overconfidence in situations involving cravings and urges should be quickly identified and tackled.

Author

• Kok Tsz Wing, Nanyang Technological University